Trapani-Milo

38°00'21"N 012°34'54"E

Runway: 05/23 - ....meters/....feet - Asphalt

Airfield Trapani-Milo was an airfield in the village of Milo, just east of Trapani, Sicily.
The airfield was built in the late 1920s for the Regia Aeronautica. It was of considerable importance during World War II by controlling the Strait of Sicily and as a starting point for supply efforts to troops in North Africa. It was used by the Luftwaffe and saw Ju52, He111, Me323, Me110 (of Zerstörergeschwader ZG26) and Bf109 (including Gruppe II./JG27). On the Italian side of the airfield Macchi MC200 of 1.Stormo, Fiat CR42, Ju87 (Stukas, called 'Picchiatelli' in Italian) of 208Sqn.
The airfield suffered several airstrikes, of which one took place on 13 July 1943. At the time of the airstrike many fighter aircraft sat at the airfield.


Trapani Milo in March 1941 (Flickr).


Macchi Mc200 of 82Sqn Regia Aeronautica at Trapani-Milo (source).


Heavy maintenance work in the open air with somewhat rough tooling – watch the empty fuel drum used as support for an disassembled wing – of the Messerschmitt Me 210 F6+WK of the Aufklärungsgruppe 122, a Luftwaffe’s reconnaissance Group at Trapani, on the border of Milo airfield, Sicily. The plane is surely a Me 210A-1 of the 2.(F)/122, the Staffel of the Aufklärungsgruppe 122 equipped with this Messerschmitt twin-engines and based at Trapani from January 1942 to June 1943. Therefore the photo was taken likely between these two dates. Notice also in the background the fuselage of a Messerschmitt Bf 109 (of an unknown unit) and the sheer size of the Mount Erice.


Trapani-Milo on 13 July 1943, showing many aircraft on the base.


A Messerschmidt Me323 'Gigant' at Milo during World War II (unknown, via Michelangelo Marino).


Almost the same location in 2011 (Michelangelo Marino).

After the war the base proved inadequate for the new aircraft and as the proximity to the town was deemed to close the Italians started the construction of the new military and civilian airport Chinisia. Air traffic was diverted to the new station as of 1949, and the airfield was abandoned. The land, over 90 hectares on the outskirts of the city of Trapani, and the premises of the old military airport were later handed over to the Italian Space Agency and in 1975 they installed a "stratospheric balloon launch base". It is one of the few places in the world able to launch Transmediterranean (to Spain) balloons and it conducts transatlantic fundamental astronomical and astrophysical research.
In 1976 the track was cut in two by the construction of the highway A29 Alcamo-Trapani. There is a small road bridge that crosses the A29 to allow the connection between the two sections of the track. The base was named 'Luigi Broglio' in July of 2001. Recently it has also been used to launch unmanned aircraft.
In aerial photography the track is still easy to find. A modernization program added the "Blue Village", where the Command of the Fire Brigade and the Research Center are located, marked the end what remained of the command building, hangar "Nervi" and aircraft parking areas. Still visibile along the west perimeter, are some revetments designed to repair aircraft.


Trapani-Milo in 2004 (Google Earth)


Trapani-Milo in August 2011, showing a small building had appeared on the runway close to the A29 (Silvano Marti, co-author of Aquile di Chiana (Eagles of Chiana).)


A look down the Runway in August 2011. In the distance the small building on the runway is barely visible (Silvano Marti)


One of the remaining revetments on the west side of the airfield in August 2011 (Silvano Marti).